Deck The Halls

Brody hated Christmas.

Well, maybe ‘hated’ was a strong term.

He strongly disliked Christmas.

He didn’t have some tragic story about being neglected on the family-focused holiday. His parents always got him and his older siblings plenty of presents and his mom and sister always prepared a huge feast that left them sleeping on the floor for the rest of the afternoon.

It was the intensity of which Christmas shoved its way through your door that irked him. No matter what you did, as soon as Thanksgiving was over, Christmas was everywhere. Commercials, music… even food suddenly turned “Christmas-y” and Brody hated it.

He’d tried to avoid it as much as possible, but within the last week, his girlfriend, Becca had taken to decorating their apartment. Garlands draped over every doorway. Poinsettias seemed to be multiplying on all the tables. The other day he’d made dinner and hadn’t been able to find a non-Christmas-themed plate in the cupboard.

On days like that, he was thankful for his ability to retreat to the diner.

Purchased with his so-called “college fund” when he was 30, going through a life crisis, and finally coming to terms with the fact that he was never going to go to college like he kept telling people, Brody had hit his limit with decisions when it came to naming the place. “My friend’s diner” had been tossed around as a joke but in the moment it stuck.

And here he was, three years later, loving his place. It didn’t bring in crowds of customers; in fact most weeknights it was just him; but being able to make his own rules, menu and decisions meant the world to him.

Especially on nights like tonight.

“So, Becca’s got you all Christmas-ed out?” Jeff, the cook and only other full-time employee asked, leaning against the counter as he drank a glass of Sprite.

“You wouldn’t think that there were more ways to make our apartment festive, but you’d be wrong,” Brody told him as he took the towel out of his back pocket and wiped it down the laminated counter. Like most Tuesday nights, the place was dead, so the two men were sitting around, shooting shit.

“This is why I’m glad I’m single,” Jeff told him with a chuckle. “I only have to get festive when it’s time to see my son on Christmas. Until then, I can bah humbug it as much as I want. I even blocked the Hallmark Channel so there’s no way I’ll get a glimpse of Christmas when I’m channel surfing.”

Brody thought that was a good idea. Becca had the Hallmark Channel playing nonstop when they were home, and he hated to admit that he had some of the movies memorized.

He was just about to tell his friend that when Jeff’s eyebrows rose and he quickly chugged his glass.

“Your girl’s here,” he said before disappearing into the kitchen, just as the bell above the door rang.

Brody wasn’t surprised when he turned and didn’t see Becca standing there.

His relationship with Sophie was an interesting one, and one he had a hard time explaining to people. He’d met her one night when she’d stumbled up to the college bar he used to work at down the street and proclaimed she had been set up on a blind date with one of the other bartenders, who’d been a no-show. After that interesting conversation (which she now claims to not remember) she’d disappeared back out the door and he hadn’t seen her there again. Still, the image of her brilliant red hair falling from its pins, her mascara running and her green eyes shimmering with too much alcohol had stayed ingrained into his mind. When she’d walked into his diner about two years after he’d opened, he’d recognized her immediately.

Now she came multiple times a week. On the weekends, her friends would start their nights out here, ordering rounds of mozzarella sticks and cheesy fries. On the weekdays, she’d stop by once or twice to just hang out, sometimes getting dinner, but usually just sticking to coffee.

The days he liked best were when she brought her laptop. As a journalist, she had lots of things to type up and edit. She’d sit at the bar, working on some article or another, and he’d lean across from her, checking finances and writing up next week’s produce order.

Things were comfortable with Sophie. He never had to do anything to impress her, or try not to make her angry, or keep her happy, like he did with Becca (or any girlfriend for that matter). With Sophie, he could just relax.

Mostly relax, anyway. After last week’s marinara incident, he’d made sure Jeff knew she was on marinara ban for two weeks. It would take him nearly that long to get the red sauce out of his favorite plaid shirt.

“Hey,” Sophie said, walking up to the counter with her usual bright smile.

“No laptop?” Brody asked in way of greeting as he poured her a glass of water. “Don’t tell me I have to actually entertain you this evening?”

She laughed and plopped up on one of the stools, taking her coat off and draping it on the chair. The sight of her crimson lace dress made his eyebrows raise.

“Hot date?” he joked as he slid the water to her and walked over to the coffeemaker to pour her a mug before she asked. Two creams, four sugars, was always her order and he prided himself in always remembering. It was their thing.

“Lukewarm,” she said with a sigh and a shrug.

Her admittance that she had been on a date made Brody pause. That was news to him.

Shaking it off, he tried to play it like her dating was no big deal. Because it wasn’t, was it?

“What happened?” he asked as he slid the mug down the counter to stop in front of her. “Tell Uncle Brody all about it.”

She wrinkled her nose.

“One, ew. Never call yourself that again. Two…” she trailed off before shrugging again. “He was just a dud. Sales guy… you know the type. Schmoozy, all charm, big show small tip.” Brody shook his head at that statement. “I don’t know…” Sophie trailed off. “My mom would have liked him,” she said with a chuckle.

“When it’s not right, it’s not right,” Brody told her, seeing the look on her face. She may have been playing it off, but he could tell she was disappointed with how things had turned out.

Obviously wanting to change the subject, she spun around on her stool, looking around the whole establishment..

“This place is dull Brody,” she said, taking a sip from her straw. “There are literally zero decorations up for Christmas.”

“I hate Christmas,” he told her and she twirled around, slamming her palms on the counter and looking at him.

“Hate Christmas?” she asked, as if that was the most scandalous thing she’d ever heard. “Well, no one cares if you hate Christmas. Most people love Christmas, which means most people will be turned off if your diner isn’t decorated.”

“Listen, Becca’s been decorating our place all week,” Brody started to argue. “The last thing I want to do right now is go out and buy decorations to put up in this place that I’ll have to stare at every day and wish I hadn’t wasted money on.”

“Oh let me do it!” Sophie cried, ignoring his rant. “Please? I’d have so much fun if I got to actually decorate a place that was bigger than my postage stamp apartment. Please, please, please?”

Before waiting for his response, she’d hopped off the chair and began walking around the empty room, loudly informing him of what would go where.

Watching her as he used his towel to dry a few glasses, Brody couldn’t help but smirk. This was the Sophie he knew; not depressed by a lackluster date but overly excited and practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

How could he tell her no?

“And then the Christmas tree right here!” she shouted, dramatically throwing her arms at the space in front of her before turning back to him. “Nothing big obviously. Just like, three or four feet.”

She came to a stop in front of him and batted her big eyes, her lower lip pouting out as she waited for his response.

He could feel Jeff’s eyes peering out from the kitchen window as he made a show of sighing in defeat before pulling his wallet out of his back pocket, pulling the diner credit card out of its slot and holding out to her.

“Are you serious?” she squealed, jumping up and down once before taking the card and looking at it.

“Just… just don’t go crazy,” he said, his tone indicating he was already regretting his decision. “I’m not made of money.”

Sophie squealed again and then began gathering together her coat and purse.

“What are you doing?” he asked, looking at her with a frown. She’d just gotten there!

“I have shopping to do! Everyone else had their places decorated last week! We’re already so far behind,” she said as she wrapped her scarf around her neck, buttoned up her coat, and walked out the front door, holding her hand up in the air to wave his credit card in lieu of a farewell.

“I’m going to regret this,” Brody mumbled, feeling his cook come up beside him.

“Man, you’ve got it bad,” Jeff said with a chuckle. “I don’t even think you realize how bad you’ve got it.”

“What are you talking about?” Brody asked, feeling his insides churn. If he’d known he was going to get the second degree, he wouldn’t have made this grand gesture.

“Sophie,” Jeff practically shouted, pointing after where she’d disappeared past the windows. “You’ve got it bad for her. You’re a mess.”

Turning to busy himself with organizing the row of napkin dispensers, Brody scoffed.

“Dude I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about,” he tried to say casually. “I’m with Becca, and Sophie is too busy dating the city’s entire financial district.”

The words were harsh, but he had to prove Jeff was wrong. Because Jeff was wrong, wasn’t he?

“Man, your girlfriend’s been trying for weeks to get you to put up some decorations here and you just keep telling her it’s not that kind of diner. Sophie’s barely in here for two minutes and now she’s probably maxing out your credit card at Target.”

“Yeah because I didn’t want to see her get all pissed,” Brody said as an excuse for his behavior, ignoring the first half of Jeff’s comment. “And I doubt she’s maxing out my card.”

“She’s got you wrapped around her finger,” Jeff laughed. “You’re screwed.”

Frustrated with what Jeff was saying, and equally frustrated that he wasn’t able to think up a good comeback, Brody felt his annoyance pour over him like a wave.

“Don’t I pay you to cook?” he snapped and Jeff frowned before turning to the kitchen.

“Yeah, when you got customers,” he mumbled in return.

Alone again, Brody sighed and ran a hand down his face.

Was Jeff right? Did Sophie have him wrapped around her finger? How had that happened? He wasn’t one to usually bend over backwards for a girl, something Becca complained about regularly. He did his own thing, and the last thing he needed was a girl trying to control any aspect of his life.

So then how had Sophie so easily convinced him that she should decorate his place? And how had he agreed like it was his idea to begin with?

“Shit,” he mumbled, tossing his towel onto the counter. It hit the glass he’d been cleaning and sent it rolling onto the floor where it shattered.

Maybe he was screwed.

-----------------

It had taken Becca days to organize everything before decorating their apartment, so Brody was shocked to walk into the diner the next evening and find boxes and bags of green and red scattered all over the place.

“It’s a good thing there aren’t any customers here,” he chided as he walked over to the counter.

Sophie was standing up on a ladder, hanging a thing of garland with her back to him, and she jumped at his voice, shrieking and clutching the sides of the ladder as it wobbled.

Brody sighed and walked over, realizing his evening would be spent supporting his accident-prone decorator.

“What do you think?” she asked excitedly as he approached, already forgetting that she’d almost just fallen. “I tried not to overdo it, but I just couldn’t picture everything when I was at the store.”

“What’s the damage?” he asked as he looked around.

He had to admit, it looked nice and well contained. The garland they were currently hanging draped against the back two walls, looking rustic against the wood. She’d tied thick swaths of red fabric around the stools at the counter and thinner ones around the backs of all the chairs. The counter was empty but the tables had candle centerpieces on them: fake pillar candles surrounded by wreaths of red and green bulb ornaments.

“The receipt’s over by the register, along with the card,” she added pointedly when she realized he was going to ask her. “I tried to be financially responsible.”

Brody scoffed and turned to face the ladder.

“I’ll hold this while you finish that. I don’t have good enough insurance to let you get hurt in my diner,” he told her and she chuckled before stepping up a few steps and going back to her decorating.

Because of her height, her back end was level with his face and he tried not to let his mind wander like it had a habit of doing. He’d been thinking a lot about what Jeff had said the night before and he was more confused than ever.

Did he like Becca, or did he like Sophie? Could he like both of them at the same time?

The sound of her humming Baby, It’s Cold Outside brought him back and made him smirk. She was off key, but she didn’t seem to notice as she continued to hang the garland higher.

“I can’t reach,” she dragged out as she stepped up another rung. On instinct, he let go of the ladder with one hand and reached his hand up to hold her steady. She squeaked and he rolled his eyes.

“Just trying to keep you from falling, don’t mind me,” he said dryly, noticing the goosebumps that had appeared on her bare legs. Did she always wear skirts?

“Brody, I can’t reach it,” she finally conceded, stepping down and making him quickly remove his hand and step back from the ladder before she climbed into him. “Will you do it?”

“This was supposed to be your project,” he said as he took the tape from her and climbed up the ladder himself. Despite his tone, he was surprised to find he wasn’t as annoyed as he usually would be.

“Do you mind if I change the music to Christmas? It’ll feel more festive,” she said from over by the bar, obviously not as concerned about him falling off the ladder as he was of her.

“Nah go ahead,” he mumbled as he attempted to pile the tape on. “Hey I think I have some thumb tacks in the back office. They may work better than tape.”

Michael Bublé’s voice broke through the speakers and it wasn’t much longer after that that Sophie returned, container of tacks in hand.

“I didn’t want to do anything so permanent,” she said as she held them up and he took one, stabbing it through the garland and the wall.

“There,” he said, climbing down the ladder and stepping back to survey their handywork. “Want some cider?”

“You have cider?” she asked, sounding shocked as she walked over to a bin of bulb ornaments and began unwrapping them to put on the tree in the corner. Despite what she’d insisted the day before, it was definitely taller than her.

Walking behind the counter, he spotted the receipt and pulled it to him, glancing down at the total. His eyebrows rose at how low it was and he shrugged to himself before grabbing two bottles he had hidden in the bottom of the fridge and bringing them over to her.

“Did you even go to work today?” he asked with a glance at the clock. There was no way she’d worked until five and gotten all of this done before he got there.

“I may have taken a half day,” she said before looking from the bottles to him with a raised eyebrow.

“What? I work with what I got,” he argued, feeling slightly stupid for offering her cold alcoholic cider instead of the traditional, warm, Christmas-y kind. She smiled and took one of them from him, taking a sip before going back to work.

“Do you want to string the lights?” she asked and he realized it was more of an order than a question. Taking the strands, he began wrapping them around the tree, watching as she put ornament hooks on each bulb.

“You’re a pro at this,” he said and she looked up at him, blushing and smiling when she realized he was watching her.

He didn’t know her cheeks could get so rosy. They almost matched the color of her hair, they were so red.

Trying to focus on anything else, he suddenly remembered Jeff was supposed to be working. He hadn’t seen anyone else since he’d gotten here.

“Jeff here?” he asked as he turned back to the tree.

“Yeah, I think he’s in the back room. He said the decorations put him in a festive mood and he was going to try and think of some holiday things to add to the menu.”

“What?” Hadn’t Jeff just told him yesterday that he enjoyed being in bah humbug mode? Now he was creating a Christmas menu?

“I suggested a cranberry stuffing panini but I think that was a little too ‘out there’ for him,” she said and Brody laughed.

It didn’t take long before the lights were strung and Brody was surprised to find himself in full decorating mode. Eager to see the end result, he asked Sophie what else he could do.

“See? Christmas can be fun,” she said with a knowing smile before pointing at a few shopping bags.

“You can hang the mistletoe,” she told him. “Probably the doorway to the restrooms would be best.”

Nodding, Brody walked over and held the piece of greenery up, trying to figure out the center of the doorframe. He didn’t know if she wanted it directly inside the doorway, or if he could hang it on the wooden border in front, so he tacked it up and called over to her.

“Does this look good?” he asked, looking up to eye it himself. He heard her footsteps approach and felt her presence next to him as she looked up as well.

“Perfect,” she said before leaning up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek.

It all happened so quickly, she was halfway back to the tree before it registered in his mind that she’d kissed him. His eyebrows rose and his jaw fell open an inch as he took it in. His cheek tingled where her lips had pressed against his skin and he suddenly wondered what really kissing her would feel like. What would her lips feel pressed up against his? Her arms wrapped around his neck as his hands tangled in her hair. Would it be everything he was currently imagining?

What was he thinking? This was Sophie! The quirky girl who kept him entertained when he was about ready to explode from boredom. She was his friend, not a girl he was interested in. Hell, she was practically like his sister. He couldn’t keep track of how many times he’d had to comfort her as she cried over some stupid guy or other. Never once had he considered taking their place as the guy she should like instead.

But now here he was, thinking about her in ways that would probably make her blush if she could read his mind. Hell, he was practically blushing at the thought of them himself.

“Mhm,” Jeff hummed with amusement, coming up next to him. Could the cook read his mind?

“Where’s this new menu I heard about?” Brody asked instead of acknowledging what Jeff was hinting at.

“Still working on it. I’m trying to figure out some desserts I can do. You know I’m not big on making desserts.”

The lack of them on the menu confirmed that so Brody just shrugged and they both turned to watch Sophie struggle with the tinsel.

“Music too, huh?” Jeff asked suddenly and Brody rolled his eyes.

Luckily, he was saved from answering by Sophie needing his help.

“Hey Brody, can you hang the star on the tree?” she called, but her voice sounded foreign to him. Never before had it sent a shiver of thrill down his spine, or made his feet move of their own accord. This was all new to him.

He heard Jeff chuckle but he ignored it, taking the large silver star from Sophie’s hands and easily placing it on top of the tree.

“You’re so tall,” she said as she stood up and looked at the star before looking at him.

They were close. Too close. Brody didn’t trust himself standing close enough to see the different shades of red in her hair, or the faint specks of brown in her green eyes. Judging from the surprised look she had on her face, he wasn’t the only one.

The bell over the door dinged and they both jumped and spun to look at it.

Becca was standing there, surprise on her face, as she looked around. In her gloved hands was a wreath and Brody felt his gut wrench at the sight.

“I brought you this… for the door…” she said slowly as she took in all of Sophie’s decorations. “Because I figured you could at least have a little holiday cheer…”

Even from feet away he could see her eyes glistening and he sighed, taking a step towards her. Becca spun on her heel and disappeared back out the door.

What had he done?

“I’m sorry,” he said to Sophie before dashing after his girlfriend. He ignored Jeff’s judgmental look, but he couldn’t ignore Sophie’s soft voice before the door shut behind him.

“Me too.”